บท 172: Chapter 172: Storm Brewing Again
Then, Muer dismounted and drew his command sword, holding it against Bragi's neck, threatening him, "Immediately order the defenders inside the city to surrender, or I'll chop your head off right now."
Feeling the cold steel of the sword against his neck, Bragi trembled with fear. Faced with the choice between dignity and survival, Bragi decisively chose the latter.
"General, please don't do this. I'll give the order immediately. I'll command the defenders inside the city to surrender," Bragi said shakily.
Soon, the French quickly relayed Bragi's command to the defenders inside Brussels, leaving Pele nervous upon receiving Bragi's command.
"My Lord, why don't we surrender to the French? Even the main force led by Prime Minister Bragi has been defeated. With only the remaining soldiers we have, we can't possibly win if we fight," a Dutch military officer beside Pele spoke. He had completely lost confidence at this point.
"Alright, if that's the case, then let's surrender. Although I wanted to fight for the independence of the Netherlands until the very end, I have to obey Prime Minister Bragi's command," Pele said reluctantly.
Soon, the gates of Brussels were opened, and under Pele's leadership, a group of Dutch troops and government officials marched out to surrender to the French.
Outside the city of Brussels, French cavalry had entered through the gates, completely controlling the city walls and gates. The remaining armed police force of the Netherlands was also disarmed one by one.
The French commanders, Muer and Roland, rode up to the gates. At this moment, Pele, the highest Dutch commander, and a group of Dutch officials were waiting here with their heads bowed.
"I am Pele, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands and the Deputy Commander of the Dutch Army. Today, I surrender on behalf of the Dutch government to your country," Pele said, raising his command sword outside the city of Brussels.
"I have no authority to judge your crimes. Next, I will have someone send you back to Paris. Our government will determine your fate based on your crimes," Muer said coldly.
Napoleon never had a good attitude towards these opposition forces. He often dealt with them directly and harshly. Of course, since they had surrendered, it was not realistic to execute them directly, and Muer did not have the authority to do so. Therefore, all these rebels needed to be sent to Paris and left to Napoleon to decide their fate.
The French army took Brussels without shedding blood. All the armed Dutch forces inside the city laid down their weapons and entered the temporary prisoner-of-war camp set up by the French army. These prisoners would join the previous captives from Baden as free labor to help rebuild France.
With Brussels fallen, the capital of the Netherlands and its economic, cultural, and political center had been taken by the French. Given the narrow territory of the Netherlands, the capture of Brussels practically meant that the French had conquered the entire country. At this stage, the war had reached a critical point, signaling a decisive victory for France.
After completely securing Brussels, Muer ordered the army to rest for three days to recover their combat readiness. Following this rest period, the next step was to further eradicate anti-French forces in the Netherlands, forcing them to accept the rule of the French government.
With the main Dutch force of 50,000 troops defeated and Brussels captured, the remaining forces were nothing more than a ragtag bunch. The French could easily wipe them out with their eyes closed. Faced with the formidable French army, these local forces were no match and practically surrendered at the mere sight of them. Some chose to abandon their strongholds and flee their homes to continue resisting the French, but with the limited territory of the Netherlands, the French could easily find and eliminate them.
Within less than three days after the Battle of that era, the entire Netherlands was basically pacified. Meanwhile, Bragi, the mastermind behind this rebellion, would be sent to Paris for trial.
...
At this moment, things seemed to have come to an end, but out at sea, between the English Channel and the French coast, a massive British fleet stretched across the ocean. This was the British reinforcements sent to the Netherlands.
As Pele had suspected, the geographical location of the Netherlands was crucial. It was a lowland country, and warships sailing from the Netherlands could reach London, England in less than a day's journey. For England, this was unacceptable. They couldn't allow any country to threaten their homeland.
That was why the British supported Bragi to oppose Napoleon. They had thought that even if Bragi and the Dutch army were weak and incompetent, they could still tie down the French army. However, the reality far exceeded their expectations. In the Battle of that era, the French army wiped out the main Dutch force in just half a day. The speed of the French offensive greatly surpassed the expectations of the British. Faced with no other choice, the British decided to intervene directly.
They assembled an expeditionary force of 20,000 men and set off from London straight for the Dutch port of Middelburg.
On the sea in the early morning, the fog was thick, reducing visibility to a minimum.
Yet, in such adverse conditions, a British force was slowly approaching the coast. This force was the British expeditionary force, commanded by the renowned British general, Lieutenant General Bamore.
"Hurry up, all soldiers, disembark immediately. The Dutch are waiting for our rescue," Bamore urged anxiously from within the warship.
In the 19th century, primary communication methods like radios and telephones had not yet been invented, so military messages were often delivered via fast ships and swift horses. This often led to delays in transmitting military intelligence. The British army is currently facing such a situation.
They departed from mainland England four days ago, at which time the Dutch were still engaged in decisive battles against the French. During their voyage, they did not encounter any fast ships carrying news, so up until now, the British army's information is still stuck on the battle at that time. They have no idea that the entire Netherlands has already been recaptured by the French.
Middelburg in northwest Netherlands is the final point to be captured, and the British army has just landed there. It's easy to imagine that in the near future, there will be a fierce clash between the British and French forces here.
"It's strange. Why aren't the Dutch here to welcome us? Could it be that they're all on the front lines welcoming the French?" a British army officer on the coastline joked.
"We've gone through great difficulties to come all the way from England to help them resist the French aggression. How come they didn't send anyone to welcome us? At this rate, I won't even have the mood to fight the French," another British officer laughed.
At the moment, these British troops are all extremely relaxed because they still don't know that the Netherlands has already been captured by the French. They still think that the Netherlands is under their ally Bragi's control.
"Boom! Boom!" Suddenly, in the distance, the sound of hoofbeats rang out.
"What's going on? Where is that sound of hoofbeats coming from?" the British soldiers began to talk.
"Could it be the Dutch coming to welcome us?" someone speculated.
"No, something's not right." At this moment, Balmor noticed something unusual.
"Everyone, prepare for battle immediately!" Suddenly, Balmor commanded the soldiers around him as if he had thought of something.
After hearing Balmor's command, although the British soldiers didn't understand what was happening, their bodies began to instinctively form ranks.
"General Balmor, what's happening?" a British officer in the formation asked, puzzled.
"These are hoofbeats, and they're very organized. This indicates that it's cavalry coming. But the Netherlands doesn't have cavalry," Balmor said with a grim face.
"General, what do you mean?" the British officer asked, his face full of fear.
"You're right. It's almost certainly the French coming," Balmor's expression became even darker.
"What bad luck. I didn't expect to encounter a French combat unit just after landing. But how could a French combat unit appear here? Could it be..."
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